2013 M.Arch Applicants - Final Results, Decisions, Stats, etc.

Hi everybody. For many of 2013 M.Arch applicants, I believe the waiting is almost over and it's time for decisions. This is the time to start this legendary thread again.

[taken from last year's results thread and revised for a more compact version]

2013

Please take a moment to post as much information as you are would like to provide about your application to 2013 M.ARCH programs. The intention of this thread is to create an archive of the process and experience of applicants this year [and to aid applicants for next year.]

It’s time for us who have been fortunate enough with success in this process to pay it forward. Information that would be helpful is as follows. please feel free to + and/or - according to preference.

- Age/Sex/Citizenship

- Undergraduate degree/ School/ Year graduated

- GPA

- GRE scores/ TOEFL scores (internationals)

- PORTFOLIO (recommended)

- # of letter of recommendations/ from who (this can be general; employer, professor, etc.)

- things that stand out about you as a candidate (re: Personal Essay, awards...)

2 Architecture professor recommendations and one employer (unrelated to architecture)

IN for M.Arch 1:

UCLA A.UD $$$

Columbia GSAPP $

SCI-Arc $

Berkeley (waiting on possible $)

TIPS:

Don't get obsessed with archinect! The more time you're here, the less time you are:

reading about the programs,

reading about your interests,

putting together your best portfolio.

The whole process is fairly arbitrary, and there are surprises around every corner. Don't stress about individual stats (recs, gpa, gre, etc.). Just research the schools, write a solid essay tailored to each program, and put together the best portfolio you can. If you have questions talk to the schools; they are usually very helpful.

Hi guys, as I said in the first lines, I just copied the thread from last year's version and made it even shorter. I didn't add anything. But you're right, it's still asking more than necessary ...

- 25/male/asian

- 5-year B.Arch, graduated in 2011

- 3.01/4

- GRE 151 158 4.0/ TOEFL 100

-I think it was the portfolio and awards during undergrad time that gave me some sympathy. My GPA, GRE, TOEFL, working experiences, background ..etc.. are obviously not brilliant.

- 3 letters of recommendation, all from undergrad professors

- Cannot come to any open houses (international student)

IN:

-USC (2 years M.Arch +2; 18k/year)

-Syracuse (1 semester AP M.Arch1, 15k for first year)

-UIC (1 year AP M.Arch, no $)

-IIT (1 year AP M.Arch, no $)

OUT:

-Rice (M.Arch option 2)

-Berkeley (M.Arch option 2)

-WUSTL (M.Arch option 2)

DECISION:

-USC: most suitable curriculum with emphasis on urban and cities, affordable program length, great location (Los Angeles) and great weather

TIPS:

The rumor seems to be true: a strong enough portfolio could get you in where you want. But a weak GPA could diminish your chance of getting better Advanced Standing and scholarships. Also research about the school's location carefully, especially international students. 2 years in the US is not long, choose places that you can make the most of your time here, both inside and outside of the schools.

excited to go to gsapp and work my butt off. looking back, i just applied for the prestige of some places, like yale (which, i would never go to), but i am glad i got into one of the four i was super excited about (MIT, umich, GSAPP, GSD). upon further introspection, i think gsapp is the best for me. nyc baby~

- Bachelor of Interior Design from a small polytechnic school in Toronto. Also finishing my first year of M.Arch at UBC.

- 3.39 GPA

- 620 V / 800 Q / 5.0 AW

- 3 Letters. One from a studio professor, one from an architect and a landscape architect I did a competition with. Nobody with a big name.

- 2 summer internships at the interior design division of a corporate firm

- IN: Harvard, Yale and UCLA (all M.Arch I)

- OUT: Princeton, MIT (again, all M.Arch I)

- FINAL DECISION: A little torn between Yale and Harvard. I won't be able to attend the open houses for financial reasons, which makes the decision all the more difficult. My gut feeling is leaning towards the GSD though.

Spent enough time looking up schools and decided on one. I'll admit, finances played some role in decision. I paid of undergrad debt and didn't want to create a new mountain. I knew what I wanted to do. Now to build on that.

- extensive extra curriculars and maintained grades; extensive awards, 3 study abroads, exhibited at the Biennale. I really liked my personal essay... so i think that helped a lot... also i received a "C"... at first this scared me but was able to turn that around and tell them that im not all school, and do a lot outside... that im imperfect and a person

-previously applied to schools, however ended up deferring to some of them where i was allowed... instead, worked professionally to save up/also did an international competition which was later exhibited at the Biennale

- in order of preference (applied and accepted into):

GSD w/ $$$$

YSOA (no aid yet)

GSAPP w/$$

CCA (no official news, but spoke with the department head and am accepted (I think))

Final Decision seems like it'll be GSD, my first choice! will be there for the open house!

I will probably go to uPenn. I am very attracted to its Environmental/Digital focus plus all the opportunities to travel that the school offers. Although, Vancouver and the other west coast cities just seem like great places to live in... hmmm Luckily the government of Ecuador will pay for 100% of my education and expenses without me having to pay it back, I just have to come back to the country and work for a couple years wherever I want. I don't complain :)

i cant believe how young yall are! so much for work experience I guess. I mean real work experience. Not an internship or TCBY.

No offense! 22 year olds doing a masters at GSD or where ever makes one scratch their head. Not because of technical ability but maturity and ability to share work related experiences.

Realize that the more young students that are equipped with advanced degrees, the more we saturate the value of that degree in the market place. Meaning it only becomes more difficult to leverage your education in to better pay as accessibility to these degrees are seemingly quite easy.

Where is the faith in our youth? They exist and they get into the GSD because they are matured and experienced, and they understand what their degrees entail. Harvard is not a pass to financial success. Keep the hope up though, turns out these 22 year old also gets into probably a load of other places that doesn't mean shit like Princeton, Yale, AA, Bartlett, GSAPP, and the whole alphabet soup of places. Kinda sucks because one of them have my spot too.

But I'm 23 SO I'm so MUCH oldER you KnOw? Sometimes I scratch my head, but at other people's judgement. And from experience, incompetence is non biases, it effects all age demographic, not just the young.

Harvard , yea I mean what the hell, its been an open door policy since 1636. YOU APPLY AND YOU GET IN is their unofficial motto

First, allow me to clarify. I have no issue with a 22 year old BArch grad wanting to pursue or even being accepted to an MArch II program. I actually believe that it's a great opportunity to round out one's education.

What I don't agree with, is a young 20 something, lets say 22 for continuity, completing a bachelors degree in drama and social justice, then going directly into a masters of architecture program for another 3 years. That's loco man.

History shows the field of architecture has struggled to garnish wages which are commensurate with the amount and type of work involved. That's a real fact. Look on craigslist or glassdoor. Take a random sample. See if that's what you want to make after spending 3 years and 100,000 + on grad school. It kinda doesn't seem fair.

Look at it this way, business schools continue to place their graduates into high paying positions for a number of reasons...One being the average Bschool student is generally between the ages of 27-35 and has a minimum of 4 years of work experience. That's not a coincidence. Schools actually require that. They think it makes the education experience better! HAHA ! Can you believe that?! People with experience...working together, sharing their expertise in a collaborative setting. OMG, that's like so awkward, right?!

Maybe you think architecture should be an island. Never observing or learning from what others are doing. Let's keep the wages low! Who needs money when daddy will continue to carry your dead ass weight around.

Also, my comments have nothing to do with my faith in youth. Actually it's quite the opposite. I think everyone deserves a chance but the buck doesn't stop with school. You don't need an MArch from UPenn to use cad and draw stairs sections.

I bet with a few more years of growing up under your belt, you would have responded a little less emotionally. And if you are after all, 23 years old, then it doesn't surprise me that you took offense to what I said. Probably because I made your feel insecure about your age and the reality that you're spending half of your life in school, going broke instead of living your life, making a living and gaining experience.

look you guys, i get that you think it's invalid or not right or whatever that twenty-two year olds are getting MArch degrees. but by saying that you just invalidated all the effort i and many other posters have put forth. this thread is meant to celebrate our results through this really long and stressful journey, so i would appreciate it if y'all could just keep the sarcasm and insults out of one thread at least.

my 2-cents: i understand where people are coming from in terms of those who come from a non-arch background going into grad school for their first-professional degrees right after their undergrad... however, i believe this actually brings in more diversity in the studio culture... architecture is one of the field that is very inter and multi-disciplinary... not just in technological advancement, but also in terms on social issues, and many more. Honestly, when we design in studio (sometimes), we forget about these important factors and design for the sake of designing without considering these important variables ( i mean, we design for these people, anyway)... i really think having non-arch students in the studio enrich the discourse and even helps us create a more conceptually-thought out designs with regards to other disciplines

PS: congrats to all those who got in with BArch or not! (also, this forum is for stats, to help future applicants, please keep it that way/create a new thread to discuss this issue)

Sarcasm aside, I think the conversation started has some teeth to it. About the cream rising to the top part, I think it's a generalized opinion. Many studio debates have been had about who is better out of the gate....someone ivy educated vs someone who isn't. This debate blends easily with work experience vs no experience.

My $0.02, a Masters doesn't guarantee that you will start of higher than someone with an undergraduate background. These posts inevitably go the route of I made it to an Ivy with little effort, you didn't.....and then gets loud for no reason.

A reality that we all face before during or after school will remind you of Spackle's base argument. You'll see, one day, you will hopefully be working as permanent staff somewhere and maybe remember this conversation. There will be that bridge we will all cross, Ivy or not, experience or not, where those with more experience will get more work and you will support them. Until you can prove yourself. At the end of the day in this crappy economy, that's all we can ask for. There are no guarantees and most of us know that by now.

Congratulations to all who weathered this crazy application storm, waiting or accepted, we are that much closer to that next level.

I forgot to add in my last comment that eventually, regardless of experience or academic background, we all get to that next threshold. Licensure (AIA, Leed and whatever else is yet to come) The reality of practice eventually catches us all, jaded or not.

I am Greek too and I'm a fifth year student (Architecture). I'm planning on sending applications on the forthcoming December. How did you manage to find so may GSD graduates to give you letters of recommendation???

Your portfolio is ace! I would be grateful if you could give me any tips. I am planning on sending applications to GSAPP, GSD MArch II, UPenn and Berkeley

RECOMMENDATIONS: 3 letters all from arch professors (one from GSD, one from MIT, and the last one from GSAPP)

here is my results:

IN: upenn march 1 ap ($)/ gsapp msaad/ cooper union march 2 ($$$)

OUT: mit/ gsd/ yale/ princeton

Decision: have great possibility to Cooper Union

I don't know is it a right decision or not. But comparing to UPENN and Columbia University, choosing cooper union to study can save many tuition fee. Also, I like its teaching style. Is there any person also get the offer from cooper union this year? It seems that not so many people discuss cooper union in the forum.

@geo90
Thanks! II believe that there aren't really any tips, just prepare a lot and redo your portfolio many times, correcting yourself is quite the task! Take the GRE+TOEFL tests VERY early on, I didn't and it took up so much of my time (I work full time so my preparation was very limited and anxiously done). I graduated from Patras School of Architecture (PSOA lol!!!) and many of our professors there hold GSD masters degrees. I don't know if you are already done with your thesis but I wish you all the best and have courage during the application process - it will all work out!

Was there a specific concentration that you applied for to both programs? I am interested in both programs. Would it be possible to share more information as well as your portfolio submissions? Please feel free to contact me at karno27@gmail.com

I applied for Critical Conservation (MDesS) and HTC (SMArchS). I didn't submit a portfolio for the MDesS, and my portfolio for HTC was nothing fancy. I did submit a 20-pg writing sample for both, though, and my SOP underwent dozens of rewrites. I was also lucky to have many professors who could attest to my research and writing skills in their letters of reference.

What concentrations are you interested in? Each one has very different requirements, and I wouldn't be the best person to talk to if you were interested in, say, the SMArchS in computation. The faculty at both the GSD and MIT seem very accessible and willing to talk things through, so it might be best to reach out to them for a chat.